🇧🇷 Willian

[Puliiszola 519]

Thank you for everything willian. 

Brilliant player. Never understood the hate he got and even getting. Gave it his all everytime he was on the pitch.

Had his flaws, just like everything. But should go down as one of our greatest servants.

All said and done, won't wish him all the best. Not until he is with arsenal.

[milka 3,393]

When Chelsea signed Willian, KDB left, Juan Mata left, Mo Salah came then left and even Eden Hazard left but he remained whilst averaging 5 goals a season. We truly couldn’t beat this guy but it’s finally come to an end.

 

Bye  gooner 

[LAM09 7,054]

I didn't expect to see this day. Certainly didn't live up to the expectations some had for him, but he played a useful role at times.

[Atomiswave 6,117]

He will do good for them next season but hardly our best player. He was indeed a good servant but im not gonna wish him well there, its arsenal they can go spit.

[Alabama 1,992]

14 minutes ago, Mana said:

He wanted a 3 year contract. We offered 2. Of course he will walk away. Arsenal is going to give it to him.

Good news...

[Pizy 18,911]

After years and years of having workhorse wide attackers like Willian and Pedro it'll take some getting used to seeing wide players who are highly productive and creative instead.

We should finally have multiple wingers scoring double digits in the league next season. 

Willian is a very, very useful player to have in your squad but for a team with ambitions to challenge for league titles and the CL eventually, he's simply not productive enough. Doesn't score nearly enough, doesn't assist nearly enough. He's a managers dream due to his work ethic and energy. That's well and good for a club like Arse who are just trying to stabilize themselves. We need statistical production.

[Milan 17,957]

I never forgot.

[Nero 1,874]

It's over

Thank you for everything Willian, but bye bye.

[Pulisicismydaddy 91]

We're free

Bye bye Willian

[DDA 9,940]

Is this a dream..?

Am I awake..?

🥳🥳🥳

Fair play Willian... you really knew how to fuck up my day.

Good luck.

[Jype 6,398]

So he's finally gone. 

Been wanting him gone since around 2017 when I finally gave up hope that he'll improve on his poor decision making. Had all the tools (technique, pace, work rate) to become a real world class player but his final ball never improved, thus a poor record in both goals and assists.

On his day he was as good as anyone but at this level he needs to be at his best for more than two or three games a season. Not a bad player by any means and I'll thank him for his service to the club but I'm glad he's no longer a Chelsea player.

Still, seeing him at fucking Arsenal is going to be weird to say the least. But I understand his reasoning, his family are really settled in London and if they are offering him the long-term contract he was after so badly the move makes a lot of sense for him. Similar to Cech and Luiz in that regard. Kind of funny that players move from Chelsea to Arsenal because they're no longer good enough and they still want to stay in London, but the other way around they move because of the trophies. 

[ChelseaFanUK 1,014]

Liked Willian to be honest. Decent player and on his day very good.  Think it was the right time to depart, though.   

 

 

[Strike 7,489]

There's hardly a clamour among the fanbase asking for him to be retained. Tells you everything really.

We could have got something out of him for half of next season but three years was too much and the board should be commended for sticking to its stance. We can replace Willian with a willing squad player 

[milka 3,393]

Players move from arsenal  to Chelsea to fulfill their dream of winning trophies.

Players move from Chelsea to arsenal  because they are comfortable living in London.

 

[Blue Colored Sky 1,807]

No one actually noticed that he announced his departure on his birthday ?

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,920]

Crazy to think this thread was created 7 years ago. This forum was a VERY different place back then.

 

 

End of an Era. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,382]

He and Pedro gone frees up 12 million in annual wages. 

[Jype 6,398]

14 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

He and Pedro gone frees up 12 million in annual wages. 

Yep, also around £8M a year in amortisation on the club's books (5M for Pedro and 3M for Willian).

Overall that's £20M per year off the books with those two gone. That alone will cover the entirety of Ziyech annual cost (amortisation+wages) with a good amount of money still left over. 

[Blue Colored Sky 1,807]

I won't miss his overweight passes, that's for sure. The amount of time those passes, those simple 5-10 metres passes that he somehow managed to screw time and time again gave me rage boost far too many times. I stopped screaming at the screen after another failed attempt around 2016 but still sometimes my rage got the better of me and I couldn't contain myself but scream incessantly like a mad man. Really, what the hell man, how someone clearly so talented with such silky, smooth technique and touch couldn't correctly adjust the weigh of the pass for so long. And he never actually improved in this aspect. It's like he was one of the best players around to carry the ball and start transition attack but he was one of the worst to execute anything after that long sprint. So, so frustrating ...

I still have mostly good memories though. Frank Lampard gave so much praise to Willian over the last 6 weeks that I too jumped on board of him staying here. And I think there's a reason why he was heavily used by every manager that was in the Chelsea dugout during his time here, why he was Brazilian international for most of his time here, why there was apparently big money offer from Barcelona, why Chelsea loosely wanted to give him 2 year contract even though they are strict to 1 year only rule for players over 30, why he finally got 3 year contract at Arsenal at the age of 32. He's really good player at the end of the day and you know what you get from him. Those frustrating things that he has plenty in his game are things that prevent him from going into higher echelons of players but still what's left is a good player with good qualities that made him play Champions League level for around 15 years which is very impressive.

Another thing that comes to my mind right now is maybe another take on this eternal discussion who is a legend of the club and who is not and what merits are we using. Look at Willian and Eden Hazard and their respective Chelsea careers, they tick all the same boxes, they both been here for 7 years, they both won the same trophies including 2 league titles, they both have similar number of Chelsea appearances (339 for Willian to 352 for Hazard) so everything is on level playing field. Eden Hazard is clearly, clearly one of the Chelsea greats and legend without a shadow of doubt while no one will place this term next to Willian's name despite him ticking all the boxes (trophies, longevity, appearances). I find this take quite interesting and I will use this example in future days.

Anyway, thanks for everything. What was bad now is irrelevant, I think about good stuff now and there was plenty to remember. Good transfer that was paid back in my opinion. The 3 years is too big of commitment for Chelsea though especially because you never know when player over 30 is going to dip with his physical capabilities. And we know that often times it's not a steady decline but rather a nosedive. So it was possible that Chelsea would carry his contract for another 2 years while already midway through the next season he wouldn't be up to it. Or maybe he will keep his fitness for longer. Right now he's still very useful and the problem is that we want Willian level of availability and reliable (to some degree) level of performances in the squad but unfortunately maybe will need to look in the market for that. I'm still not convinced we can stay injury free next season and have enough personnel for the whole season. It would be bad to spend 30-40m on squad player when you could essentially give Willian small signing-on fee and just pay his wages for the same output.

 

[Pulisicismydaddy 91]